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The WonkLine: September 30, 2010

Welcome to The WonkLine, a daily 9:30 a.m. roundup of the latest news about health care, the economy, national security, immigration and climate policy. This is what we’re reading. Tell us what you found in the comments section below. You can also follow The Wonk Room on Twitter.

Immigration

California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman said she had “no idea” that her housekeeper and nanny of nine years, Nicky Diaz Santillan, was undocumented until shortly before her campaign started when she fired her. A controversial federal fingerprinting program, Secure Communities, that automatically checks the immigration status of suspects booked into local jails officially went statewide in Texas yesterday. With only seven days remaining for citizens to register to vote in Arizona before the upcoming elections, volunteers from Promise Arizona have registered 7,105 new Latino voters in the state since June.

Climate Change

“We tend not to be very good at chunks” said Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), responding to President Obama’s call for climate legislation to be handled in “chunks.” “But then, you could argue that we tend not to be very good at big things, either.”

Health Care

“A push by Republicans to scuttle the U.S. health overhaul by denying funding through the House’s constitutional control over appropriations is gaining momentum.”

“As Democrats and Republicans gird themselves for a fight over President Obama’s health care law, the leading health care reform coalition in the country is locked in a brawl with the 60-Plus Association — a corporate-backed organization posing as a senior citizen’s advocacy group.”